AI health firm Healx bags $56m funding as it looks to fast track rare disease treatments October 16, 2019 Health tech firm Healx has secured $56m (£44m) in a Series B funding round as it looks to launch a new accelerator programme to find treatments for rare diseases. The Cambridge-based company said it raised the funds from European venture capital giant Atomico, Global Brain and Btov Partners, as well as its existing investors. Read [...]
Boris Johnson races against the clock to secure Brexit deal October 16, 2019 EU and UK negotiators have entered the last day of Brexit negotiations hoping to secure a deal before a key summit tomorrow. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to update the cabinet of the state of talks after they continued overnight. Read more: Negotiators burn the midnight oil as crunch EU summit looms Sterling surged [...]
City Moves for 16 October – Who’s switching jobs at BNP Paribas, Rentify and Civitas? October 16, 2019 Today’s City Moves includes BNP Paribas, Rentify and Civitas BNP Paribas BNP Paribas Asset Management (BNPP AM) has appointed Arnaud Schwebel as global head of its new retirement solutions department. Arnaud will assume responsibility for the department, as well as for the operational supervision of BNP’s French savings and retirement channel. Arnaud was previously head [...]
Crowdfunding in the age of the consumer October 16, 2019 It became clear that fintech companies began to prize crowdfunding three years ago. Monzo crashed our servers in 2016 when it raised £1m in 96 seconds. Last December, the now-serial crowdfunding neobank raised £20m from retail investors. The staggering thing about Monzo’s raise — and it speaks volumes about where both crowdfunding and fintech have [...]
DEBATE: Is the G7 warning the end for Facebook’s libra? October 16, 2019 Now that the G7 has issued a warning against the cryptocurrency, is this it for Facebook’s libra? YES, says Ana Bencic, president of Nexthash. Facebook’s libra is the most high-profile example of a centralised cryptocurrency and is a living example of how it will be perhaps the last one to exist. The G7’s warning to [...]
Voter ID is a misguided solution to a problem that doesn’t exist October 16, 2019 Out of all the policies revealed in the Queen’s Speech on Monday, one seemingly minor proposal should ring alarm bells: an intention to introduce compulsory voter ID at polling booths. The aim is ostensibly a laudable one. It is important to ensure that elections are secure and fair, and this precaution is meant to tackle [...]
You can tune out, the Brexit melodrama won’t get fixed anytime soon October 16, 2019 A few weeks ago, I took a break from reading the news because I was worried that Brexit developments were stressing me out too much. When I returned to the papers late last week, I was relieved, and hardly surprised, that I hadn’t missed much. As we approach the 31 October Brexit deadline, we appear [...]
This year’s Nobel economics laureates have made the world a better place October 16, 2019 This year’s Nobel Prize in economics, announced on Monday, was a ray of sunshine amid the prevailing media gloom. The Prize was awarded for the work the new laureates had done on the alleviation of global poverty. This is one reason to be cheerful about it. Another is that Esther Duflo became only the second [...]
Watchdog censures Boohoo and Missguided over ‘sexual’ adverts October 16, 2019 The advertising watchdog has censured retailers Boohoo and Missguided over adverts that contained “offensive” and “socially irresponsible” sexual references. In an online video ad for women’s fashion brand Missguided, young women in swimwear were depicted in “seductive poses”, including one shown with a strawberry between her lips. Read more: Deliveroo astronaut ad banned over misleading [...]
Click and collect services could boost in-store sales October 16, 2019 Investment in click and collect services could boost bricks and mortar sales as customers make last minute purchases when they pick-up items in store. More than eight in 10 customers said they buy extra items in store when using click and collect, according to the latest research, and more than three quarters of retailers said [...]